I make myself weekly goals that are small but very achieveable. I then print them out on a piece of paper and hang them on my closet door so I have to look at them each morning and each night. I have found that being able to look at those goals and know that I achieved them each day has really helped to keep me motivate. And just remember everyone has bad days. We are human!

another thing you should look at is your goals. if your goal was to change everything you eat and do this perfect week of exercise, loosen up the rules. if you could eat perfectly and have a perfect exercise regimen you probably would have already been doing it in the first place and you wouldn't have been able to fall off the wagon because that is just what you do. since that's not the case, don't set aggressive goals. if you aren't exercising at all, it's not a great plan to run a marathon on tuesday. if you weren't exercising at all your first goal should be more along the lines of 10 minutes twice a week. if you can hit that quite easily, then try either 10 minutes three times a week or twenty minutes twice a week. and as you get adjusted to that level, bump it up again. and keep doing that. inch up your short term goals with the idea of eventually getting to your long term goals. and you can do the same with food. if 14 of your meals come from fast food on an off week, making a goal to cook 21 meals from scratch this week is probably going to be a bit much. making better choices for those fast food choices would probably my first goal. keep in mind that most grocery stores have premade salads, parfaits, cut up fruits, soups, and sushi that can be a little better for you than fast food. my next goal would be cooking one more meal a week from scratch. then making sure that when i am cooking from scratch, i am making enough for that meal and at least one more meal. and then making one meal for now, at least one to freeze and at least one for leftovers. and gradually increasing how much i am actually cooking. and doing that will mean i have a list of better choices if i do head out for fast food and i will have a backstock in my freezer of homemade meals.

Create a game plan of how you are going to make this week a success and follow thru. Plan ahead with food and your exercise...and be flexible. and don't give yourself the excuse to sabotage your efforts

I see that you have been a member for quite a while, but only have a few posts. Are you new to this healthy lifestyle? If so, then it might be that you have changed things very quickly. I would suggest that you go back to what you were doing, and make gradual changes - just one or two initially and allow your mind/body to get used to the changes before adding something else to the mix.

IF you had been doing really well for quite some time, then just forgive yourself, tell yourself it has happened, as it happens to most, if not all of us at some time, and then start your new day as tho' the other hadn't happened.

I think Lillean's first question is the most important one - why do you want to do this in the first place? Answering that will usually give you the boost you need to say "alright, let's try again".

Also, I find that making one decision at a time, and saying "the next decision I make will be a good one" helps a lot. It may not be the easier decision (i.e. working out or sitting on the couch), but you'll feel good for every good decision you make.

1) I try to remember the real reason for wanting to loose weight 2) I look at motivational pages on spark people. 3) I look at my own pictures to see how far I've come. and believe it or not I instead of watching a movie I watch a workout video.

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